Your Credit Score Explained
You might want to open a new credit card to receive a bonus for signing up, or reduce the number of credit cards in your wallet with an annual fee, but opening and closing credit card accounts can impact your credit score. The question is, just how much does it impact your credit score, and is it worth sweating?
Most banks and credit lenders use FICO, which is the most common type of credit score. FICO scores range from 300 to 850. The score is based on the credit files of the three national bureaus – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – with the following breakdown:
- Payment history 35%
- Amounts owed 30%
- Length of credit history 15%
- New credit 10%
- Types of credit used 10%
Payment history (35%)
This makes up the largest component of your score, which makes sense because your payment history demonstrates your ability to make payments on time. Even if you cancel a credit card, the payment history on that card will stay on your credit report for 10 years after the day it was closed. Positive credit data, created by otherwise using the card for purchases and making payments, stays on your account indefinitely.
If you’re just making minimum payments, it still counts as paying your credit card as contractually agreed, so that alone doesn’t hurt your credit score. If you find yourself forgetting to make payments, though, consider adding calendar reminders.
Amounts owed (30%)
Also known as debt burden, this category measures how much you’ve charged in relation to your overall available credit. This can be called your credit utilization rate, and it’s best to keep it lower than 20% of overall limit. 
Credit bureaus use three other metrics in addition to the credit utilization rate, including the number of accounts with balances, the amount owed across different types of accounts and the amount paid down on installment loans.
Canceling a credit card that has a high limit can hurt your credit score because it impacts your utilization rate. One way to remedy this is to ask for a higher credit limit to make up for the overall decrease on a remaining credit card. Be careful not to close credit cards before a big purchase like a home or a car, because you want your credit score to be as high as possible to get the most favorable interest rate and terms available.
Having a credit utilization rate of over 30% can hurt your credit score. If you’re just making minimum required payments, it’s likely that you’re also using more than 30% of your available credit, and the balance keeps increasing due to interest building up rather than being paid down.
Length of history (15%)
As your credit history ages, it can have a positive impact on your credit score. The two metrics tracked include average age of accounts and the age of your oldest account. It can be said that the oldest credit cards are the best credit cards for your credit score. This also takes into account how long other types of credit (auto, student, mortgage, etc.) have been established.
Closing a credit card may reduce the average age of accounts. Opening a new credit card will also reduce your average age of accounts, which hurts your score. The ideal age of credit card accounts is eight years or older.
New credit (10%)
Recent searches (also called hard inquiries) into your credit history, such as when you apply for a new credit card, can hurt your credit score. Hard inquiries also occur when a lender is evaluating whether to extend credit to you for an auto loan, student loan, business loan, personal loan or mortgage. Keep these inquiries to a minimum.
A soft inquiry, which occurs when opening a new brokerage account or part of a new employer’s background check, does not impact your credit score.
Types of credit used (10%)
This includes installment (auto loan), revolving (credit card), consumer finance (high interest rate, short-term loans like from Payday loans) and mortgages. Having a mix of different types of credit helps your score. This is based on the number and mix of accounts. If a loan is paid off recently, it will eventually be removed from your history.
The creators of the FICO score have an online credit score estimator you can use. Lastly, if you’re looking for a new credit card or you want to better understand the benefits of your existing credit cards, visit NerdWallet for comparison information.
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